The Perkins' family story is a microcosm of stages in the development of not only Southern colonial America, but also the developed United States. With its colonial genesis rooted in indentured servitude, first as servants, then later as masters, the Perkins family rose to heights unattainable to them in a rigidly structured seventeenth and eighteenth century English society. As entrepreneurs and landed Southern colonial planters, they first acquired white servants, then Negro slaves, and eventually the affluence and privilege which rewarded their energy and determination. Separation from the...